Johan Liebert
Michael Reichmann Erich Springer | family = Viera Černá (mother) Unnamed father] Nina Fortner (sister) Franz Bonaparta (paternal uncle) Jaromír Lipsky (cousin) | nationality = Czech-born German }} Johan Liebert is the titular "monster" and the main antagonist of Naoki Urasawa's anime and manga series Monster. Although he is most frequently referred to as "Johan Liebert," Johan is not his real name, but rather one of the many ones he uses over the course of his life. Johan is shot in the head at a young age, but is operated on and saved from death by Dr. Kenzo Tenma. Because of this, he is very grateful to Dr. Tenma. He has spent portions of his life in different locations under different aliases and possesses an extraordinary level of charisma and intelligence. He uses his gifts to cruelly manipulate and corrupt others, often with no apparent end other than to cause suffering and destruction. His original goal, as he states when he is young, is to be the last one standing at the end of the world, though he decides upon a different fate toward the height of his acts. History Early life Johan Liebert and his twin sister, Anna, were born as the result of a eugenics experiment orchestrated by Franz Bonaparta, the primary goal of which was to create a child who had not only an exceptionally high level of intelligence and a flawless appearance, but who could also lead the human race. a, and she finds her parents' corpses as well as Johan standing armed in a nearby room. He gives Anna the gun, then orders her to shoot him in the head, wipe the gun after, and throw it out of the window. She follows through with Johan's request and pulls the trigger, subsequently entering a state of shock herself. The neighbors, who have woke up due to all of the gunshots, call the police. The authorities arrive shortly after and Johan, in critical condition at the time, is sent to Eisler Memorial Hospital to be operated on by Dr. Kenzo Tenma. Eisler Memorial Hospital As Dr. Tenma is just about to begin surgery on Johan, he is contacted by the Eisler Memorial Hospital director, Udo Heinemann, who demands that he remove himself from the boy's operation and attend to Mayor Roedecker instead. After thinking of a similar previous incident he had regretted, Tenma ultimately decides to operate on Johan. Although Johan's surgery is successful, Tenma's decision to operate on him instead of Mayor Roedecker results in the latter's death. His decision also consequently leads to him being punished: He is stripped of his position and has any chances of career progress ruined. Filled with rage, Tenma approaches a presumably unconscious Johan to vent his anger. Proclaiming that he was not wrong and that Udo Heinemann is not a doctor, but rather a filthy money-mongerer, the angered surgeon wishes death upon the Eisler Memorial director.[ Unbeknownst to him, Johan is not only conscious, but also very grateful for Tenma's decision. As a result, Johan, using poisoned candy, decides to repay his debt by granting Tenma his wish: He kills Udo Heinemann, along with Dr. Oppenheim and Dr. Boyer, then disappears from the hospital with Anna. After escaping Eisler Memorial On the same day that they escape from Eisler Memorial Hospital, Johan and Anna run into Rheinhard Dinger, who has come into trouble with the authorities for attacking a man whom he saw abusing his dog. Johan tells the police that Dinger isn't in the wrong, and that the dog abuser had attacked him first, saving him from potential jail time. Out of gratitude, Dinger offers to drive Johan and Anna to their home, but, after discovering they have no home, allows the two to stay at his apartment for a couple of days. Johan, Anna, and Dinger watch the news while eating dinner. When Dinger mutters to himself about how depraved the world is and how "the scum should all die," Johan agrees with his notion, stating, "We don't need... those people," a comment that marks the start of Dinger's career as a murderer. Sometime later, the twins travel to Heidelberg, where Johan leaves his amnesia-stricken sister in the care of the Fortners until 1995. Then, he goes to Munich and stays with a family under the name Franz Heineau from March of 1987 to April of 1988, where he strikes up a good relationship with a blind man and former soldier. The veteran tells Johan war stories and, per his request, gives him his personal description of "ultimate fear." He also teaches Johan French and English, which he masters by the end of the thirteen-month period. Johan then stays with the Reichmanns in Köln for a year, the Schumanns in Hanover, a couple in Hamburg, and possibly Hanna Kemp. Other Lieberts Next, Johan goes to Bruntal, where he finds a new couple with the last name "Liebert." Coincidentally, they once had a son named Johan who died as a toddler, which gives Johan the opportunity to jump into the deceased boy's identity. Following a convenient fire where the town's birth certificates are kept, the Lieberts are able to apply for a new application making it seem as though their son never died. Johan provides his new family with a nice home in Offenbach Hessen. Johan uses the couple to prove he has an identity and ordinary background. Although he has established a family, however, he doesn't spend much time with them. At the age of fifteen, Johan organizes a money laundering business which becomes very prosperous and well-known in the German underworld. Towards the end of his career, he spends several months living with Halenka Novakova, who is baffled by the extraordinary similarities between Johan and her friend Viera Černá. Novakova is the victim of a phantom killing in 1995, presumably related to her association with Johan. Eventually Johan grows bored of the underground bank, so he takes an amount of money and abandons it. With the president's disappearance and an inevitable end in sight, those involved lose control, wiping away what is left of the organization with a massacre. Reunion with Dr. Tenma Picking up Nina Johan goes to pick up his long-lost sister, who now goes by the name of Nina, from Heidelberg in May 1995. He begins to interact with her anonymously via email, and informs her that he is going to pick up her soon. He later monitors her as she meets with a young man named Otto Huberman, whom she believes to be the anonymous sender. Nina, after spotting Johan's figure in the crowd from afar, begins questioning who he is and subsequently faints. Later, Johan sends Nina a message requesting that she meet him at Heidelberg Castle. He hires two corrupt cops, Detective Messener and Michael Müller, to kill the Fortners while Nina is out. He also pays a gardener at the castle to make sure she doesn't leave the premises, as he has something to do before he can arrive himself. Dr. Tenma later arrives at the castle and escapes with Nina, foiling Johan's plan. Targeting the neo-Nazis Traveling to Frankfurt, Johan begins to target an organization led by neo-Nazi leaders "the Baby", Professor Gunther Goedelitz, Peter Čapek, and Helmut Wolf, who believe that he will become the next Adolf Hitler. Tenma, meanwhile, arrives in Frankfurt investigating the murder of the Springers, a family Johan stays with under the name Erich before arranging to have them killed by unnamed man. Jo pose as a law student at the University of Munich. Closing in on Schuwald Johan's plan in attending the university is to get close to the former business tycoon Hans Georg Schuwald. In his initial scheme, Johan intends for Schuwald to ultimately end up dead, which will then allow him to gain control over Germany's economy. First, he manipulates murderers to kill those close to Schuwald, creating an empty space he can fill with himself as one of the elder's Latin readers. He begins setting up Edmund Fahren to appear as Schuwald's son, but soon realizes that the tycoon's real son, Karl Neuman, is available and latches onto him instead, consequently putting Fahren up to suicide. ary, Johan, on a su Johan's efforts to acquire the tape lead him to Suk's mother, who allows him to see it and copy over a message for Tenma. Meanwhile, in order to exonerate Grimmer from false suspicion of murdering Biermann, several of the orphans who were previously in his custody band The End clear whether this is a hallucination that Tenma experiences or if it is. }} Category:Characters Category:Major Characters Category:Experiments Category:Kinderheim 511 Category:Students